Opportunity or threat?

Dear Bob …

I’ve just been informed that the family owned corporation I work for will likely be sold. I’m told that the current CEO, a family member, would remain as general manager for 3 years. The implication is that the company will stay mostly unchanged and our jobs are not in jeopardy. I’m not so naive to believe I don’t have to update my resume and start making contacts, but there seems to be some very positive momentum. I’m just not sure I can see clearly from my position.

Here are some details. I’m a one-man IT department. I have taken this company from a single Novell 3.xx server in the corner to a multiple server Windows 2000 AD domain in a proper server room. I have worked closely with the Controller to migrate from an old, barely functional ERP system to a modern ERP system that we can, with relative ease, bend to our needs. In the process of the conversion we modified our way of tracking and developing product that has increased our warehouse efficiency from 90% to 99.7%, and I designed and implemented, (but did not code) a web-based time clock system that works flawlessly and is a perfect fit to this company. The company is the best in the industry and it’s staff is the reason why. The owners are very involved and are themselves part of the innovation of manufacturing our product.

Some information that has trickled down to my level is that the purchasing company likes much of what we have created. Two that were mentioned were, at least in part, my work: the time clock system, and our bonus and reward programs.

We are strong in the industrial market. The purchasing company already owns a similar company that is strong in the consumer market – by chance located here in the same community.

I just learned of this today. Some questions come to mind right away. Should I be looking for a promotion through this or a layoff? (The buyers don’t have an IT dept. They outsource to companies local to their ownerships.) What questions should I be asking? For what should I be looking?

– Looking up or looking down?

Dear Looking …

I’d be looking for a promotion. But not in IT.

While you’ve been a one-person IT department, more significantly you’ve been a key member of a number of business improvement initiatives. If you worked closely with the controller, he/she should be in a position to introduce you to the right people in the acquiring company, and to sell your expertise the right way – not as “a guy who can install an ERP system and keep it running” but as “a guy who can look at a business process, figure out how to optimize it using a reasonable level of information technology, and then manage the process of getting the new business process up and running with the new technology it needs.”

If you aren’t careful, you could be in for all kinds of fun.

A couple of things to watch out for:

1. To the extent you can, ask around about your soon-to-be employer to find out if it suffers from the not-invented-here syndrome. If it does, all bets are off – nobody will be receptive to any ideas you have unless they had them first and will get credit for them. (From your description, it doesn’t sound like this is a problem but see what you can do to find out without making anyone nervous. My advice there: Ask the question positively: “From what I hear, everyone at this company is constantly on the lookout for ideas to make things run better. Is that your experience?”)

2. Assuming you do get the opportunity: Learn to never say, “Here’s how we do things at xxx.” All that can ever do is put people off. The equivalent, which works much better, is, “In my experience, this works well,” while making it clear you aren’t closed-minded about other thoughts on the subject.

But to go back to your original question, it does sound like you’re being presented with a great opportunity. And if you aren’t … well, you can always go back to the layoff option.

– Bob

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